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Ryan Adams’s Collaborators Speak Out After Abuse Allegations

Adams. Photo: Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images

Amid the continued fallout from the Ryan Adams abuse allegations, which now reportedly includes an FBI investigation into his alleged correspondence with a minor, many of his collaborators have shared new statements about their experiences with the man. On Monday, his ex-wife, Mandy Moore, appeared on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast to double down on her accusations that Adams’s controlling behavior during their marriage stifled her career. “I felt like I was drowning,” she said. “I couldn’t do my job because there was a constant stream of trying to pay attention to this person who needed me and wouldn’t let me do anything else.” Singer Phoebe Bridgers, one of the accusers in the original New York Times piece who claimed that Adams abused his power, also shared a new statement condemning those she says knew about his alleged behavior and failed to act. “Ryan had a network too. Friends, bands, people he worked with. None of them held him accountable. They told him, by what they said or by what they didn’t, that what he was doing was okay. They validated him,” she wrote. “He couldn’t have done this without them.”

Adams’s guitarist, Todd Wisenbaker, shared a statement partly confirming Bridgers’s new accusation, suggesting that he had knowledge of Adams’s alleged abuse and attempted to confront him about it. “There were times when I chose to believe his insane version of the truth because it was easier than believing that anyone is capable of being this much of a monster. It’s sickening and embarrassing,” he wrote. “I’ve recently learned that pretty much everything he told me is a lie upon a lie upon a lie. There are excuses and denials for everything. Some time ago I told him to get help and he asked me to help him.” In the post’s caption, he once again urged Adams to “get help.” Vivian Girls’ Katy Goodman, who is married to Wisenbaker, also added, “Believe the women who have told their stories about Ryan Adams.”

Jenny Lewis, whose 2014 album The Voyager Ryan Adams produced, shared a statement saying she is “deeply troubled” by the accusations and “stands in solidarity” with his accusers. Karen Elson, who toured with Adams, said in a since-deleted Instagram that she also had a “traumatizing” experience with him but declined to go into further detail. Liz Phair, who reportedly recorded a double album with Adams in 2017 that has yet to be released, tweeted that she may write about her thoughts on the situation. She added, “My experience was nowhere near as personally involving, but yes the record ended and the similarities are upsetting.” Natalie Prass, who toured with Adams and reportedly dated him, tweeted “believe women, believe survivors” without directly addressing Adams. Jason Isbell, who worked on Adams’s forthcoming album that has since been pulled from release, tweeted that he wasn’t aware of the allegations prior to collaborating with him but believes the women who’ve come forward.

Ryan Adams’s Collaborators Speak Out After Abuse Allegations